Summer Camp with Some Monkees
by RulersAreRoyal
Summary: Rina ends up at a summer camp  "I'm 16, for Pete's sake! Why summer camp?"-Rina  and meets a group of boys who call themselves The Monkees. One of them throws her together with a certain bass guitarist, but is she just his friend... Or something more?
1. Starting Camp

I sighed and shifted my backpack from my right shoulder to my left. _Honestly,_ I thought, _Why'd they have to send me away again? I'm 16, for Pete's sake! I'll just get a summer job. They won't have to see me as much. Maybe I'll even buy myself a dog. No, not a good idea._

I rolled my suitcase towards the cabin I was sharing with three other girls. It was my first day at summer camp. My mom and step dad had sent me here to get me away from the house. Honestly, I'm sure my step dad hates me and didn't want to see me around the house for the summer.

I lugged the suitcase up the steps and into the log cabin that was in front of me. I opened the door, and out flew a little brown bat.

Instead off screaming, like any other girl would've, I watched it fly away. "Aw, we have a bat problem!"

I rolled the suitcase into the cabin and picked a bed that was near the window. It was in the corner of the small cabin, and far enough away from the other three beds so I could sit quietly and read. Apparently, I was the first one in the cabin.

Just as I had started getting my bed set up, two girls burst into the cabin. One was a dirty-dish water blonde with light blue eyes and freckles, and the other was a red head with deep blue eyes. The red head scowled at the blonde, who just stuck her nose up. I cringed. _A stuck up, snobbish blonde. Just what I needed_, I thought.

The red head saw me and her scowl changed to a smile that lit up her whole face.

"Hi! I'm Eliza, but you can call me Liz," she said, coming over to my bed. I couldn't help but smile back at her.

"I'm Irina, but you can call me Rina." I stuck out my hand and she shook it.

"Hey, are you two going to start unpacking? We can't leave the cabin until everyone is done, you know," the other girl asked.

Liz turned and scowled at the blonde again. "Sorry, Talia. I forgot you wanted to go to the bathroom."

Thalia rolled her eyes and went on packing. "I told you my name is TAL-LEAH. Not Tal-ya. But of course, your redhead brain won't take that in because it's so small."

"Hey, you two, cut it out!" I jumped up and stood between them just before Liz punched Thalia.

Thalia looked me over and sniffed. Obviously she didn't like brunettes.

"So, who're you?" she questioned.

"Rina," I replied, "And it looks as though I'm the peace keeper in this cabin."

Just as I said that, a short, dark-haired girl walked into the cabin, carrying a pink suitcase and backpack.

"Um, am I interrupting something?" she asked, looking nervously at each of our faces. Her British accent was evident, though it was also obvious she was trying to conceal it.

"No, actually, we were just finishing up." Liz glared at Thalia and then turned and went back to her bed.

The dark-haired girl walked to the only empty bed left and set her backpack down.

"What's your name?" Thalia asked.

"Melanie," the girl replied.

"I'm Thalia, and—Oh my gosh, is that a Gucci?" Thalia squealed and stared at the purse Melanie was holding.

"Y-yes," Melanie answered. She looked really nervous.

"I can tell we're going to be the best of friends! Ohmigosh, we're gonna have _so_ much fun!" Thalia continued on and on about clothes and fashion and stuff like that. I rolled my eyes and finished making my bed. I saw that Liz was finished, too. She had decided her bed was the one closest to mine and far away from Thalia.

"I guess every group has at least one of _her_," I muttered to Liz as I nodded towards Thalia.

"Yeah," she said, "They take the fun out of everything."

Liz and I talked for a few more minutes until Thalia and Melanie finished making their beds and got unpacked. Then we all headed out to the huge campfire circle where a few more people were gathered.

Liz nudged my arm and pointed towards four boys over on the edge of the circle. There was one with a green wool hat on (which I thought was odd, since it was the middle of June in California), one with smoothed-down brown hair, a short one that looked a lot like Melanie, because they had the same dark hair and eyes, and then there was a blonde guy.

"I heard they play instruments and are in a band or somethin'," Liz said to me.

"All of them?" I asked.

"Yup." Liz started looking around the group and saw two girls dressed in jeans and t-shirts. _Tomboyish,_ I thought as she dragged me over to them and introduced ourselves.

"I thought you didn't like crowds," I muttered to her. She had told me she absolutely hated large groups of people and avoided them at all costs.

"I'm bored, ok? And I might as well make a few friends before Thalia Thaliafies them," she said to me.

The two girls' names were Hailey and Tina. Hailey was tall and pretty much all arms and legs with a waterfall of golden hair, while Tina was average height with short, ginger colored hair.

"Alright, gang," a loud, booming voice came from one of the adult leaders in the group.

"Welcome to Camp Kiskow! Now, you've already been assigned your cabin mates, and I just want to let you know that over the next 6 weeks you're here there will be no changing roomies. Everyone got that?"

"Yes," we all said in unison.

"Ok, I'm Mr. Hunter, but you can call me Mr. Dale, this is Mrs. Gregory, but she's called Mrs. G," -a black haired woman waved at us—"Mrs. Komer, Mr. Don, and Mr. Jenkins, the camp director." A short, brunette woman and two brown haired men waved when their names were called.

"We are the camp staff. If you need anything, come to us and we'll try to help you. Now, as for activities..." Mr. Dale droned on and on about the camp activities and such, until finally we were given free time. Liz, Hailey, and Tina were going to go look at the lake, and they invited me, but I said I just wanted to walk around the cabins for a bit. They shrugged and went off to the lake, saying that if I wanted to join them I was welcome to.

I walked up a hill, past the girls' cabins, and ended up around the boys' cabins. I saw the guy with the green hat coming out of one of the cabins. He saw me and waved, walking over to me.

"Hey," he said. He had a thick Texas accent, making me think of my real father, who had moved to Texas a few years ago.

"Hiya," I responded, "I'm Irina, but you can call me Rina. What's your name?"

"Mike, but a lot of my friends call me 'Wool Hat'." He pointed to the hat upon his head and I laughed a little.

"Why do you wear that thing when it's about 80 degrees out here?"  
>I asked.<p>

"Keepsake from my mom. She made it for me," he said. I nodded. Ok. I understood that.

We were quiet for a moment. Then, I remembered what Liz had said.

"Oh, um, my friend said that she heard that you and your friends play instruments and are in a band or somethin'," I said.

"Yeah, and?" Mike looked at me questioningly.

"I think that's cool. What instrument do you play?" I asked.

"Guitar. My friend Peter plays bass, my other friend Davy does percussion, and Micky plays drums."

"MIKE!" A yell came from the cabin Mike had come out of. The smooth-haired guy ran out screaming. "THERE'S A BAT!"

I rolled my eyes and jogged over to him. "Let me take care of it."

Obviously he didn't think a girl could do it. "Girls aren't allowed in the boys' cabins."

"No one needs to know." I zipped into the cabin with Mike at my heels. I saw the little bat flying around the ceiling as the two other guys huddled on their beds.

"Mike, get me that broom over there, please," I said. Mike handed me the broom and I started beating behind the bat towards the door.

Eventually the bat was out.

"Micky, why couldn't you have done that?" Mike asked the guy who had yelled at him.

"Well, I, uh..." He stared at the floor.

I rolled my eyes and started to exit the cabin when Mike put a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey," he said, "Thanks."

I grinned at him. "No problem."

I saw the short guy get off the bed. He does look like Melanie, I thought, asking, "Hey, are you Melanie's brother?"

He nodded. "Melanie Jones? Yeah, I'm her brother."

_Definitely related. They both have a British accent,_ I thought. "I'm in her cabin."

"Oh, ok. Is she behaving herself?" he asked.

"Yeah. She's actually really quiet," I answered.

"She's quiet because..." Melanie's brother stopped himself before he said anything else.

I frowned. "Uh, ok. I'd better leave." I headed out the door again, waving to Melanie's brother, Micky, and Mike. The other boy was still hiding on his bed.

_I wonder what he was about to say..._ I thought. I had a thing for being way too nosy. Which would cause problems, most likely, but I really wanted to know why Melanie was so darn quiet.

And I meant to find out.


	2. What's Up With Melanie?

I walked out down towards a place I had seen walking up the hill to the cabins. There was a rock and it was surrounded by pine trees, so it was almost hidden and had a pleasing fragrance around it.

I sat on the rock and closed my eyes, inhaling deeply the spicy aroma of pine. I must've stayed there for a few minutes, but it felt like hours were zooming by and the day was almost done. I opened my eyes.

Just then, I heard a stick crack behind me. I turned and saw the blonde haired guy who was with Micky, Mike, and Melanie's brother. I smiled at him and waved.

He grinned back, saying, "Hi" and sitting down next to me.

_He can't be much older than 17,_ I thought.

"I'm Peter. You're the girl who got the bat out of our cabin, right?" he asked.

I nodded. "I'm Irina, but everyone calls me Rina."

"That was really brave of you, with the bat and broom and all," he said.

"No, it was just... What's wrong?" I stopped. He looked like he had tears in his eyes.

He looked down. "That poor bat was stuck in there for who knows how long. He could've... Died!"

I bit my lip and tried to think of a way to comfort him. "Well, if it got in there, it must've known how to get out. It might've just been staying for the day."

"But what if it wasn't?" He looked up at me, tears trickling down his face.

I never thought I'd be thinking something like this, but right then, I thought, _"Wow. He's kinda cute. Oh, stop it Irina! Boys are only trouble." _But I couldn't fight how downright adorable he looked then.

I found myself reaching out and rubbing his back. "It's ok, Peter. The bat wasn't dead."

He finally stopped crying and looked at me. I realized what I was doing and pulled my hand back quickly. "S-Sorry," I managed to say.

"It's ok." He smiled a little and wiped the tears from his face. "And you're right. The bat wasn't dead."

I breathed a small sigh of relief that he wasn't crying.

"Hey, thanks for not going off on the fact that I cried. A lot of people think that because I cry a lot I'm a baby. Which isn't true." Peter clenched his fists in anger.

_Whoa,_ I thought, _He's angry._

"Peter, calm down!" I put a hand on his shoulder and he looked back at me. "It's ok. I don't think you're a baby."

"Thanks," he said again, this time a little calmer. Then, he gave me a quick sideways hug and then jumped up before I could say anything.

"Well, uh, I think the camp leaders said that they wanted us to line up now. Wanna come with me?" he asked.

I nodded. "'Kay."

As we walked back to the campfire circle, we talked about the bat, Peter's bass guitar, and music. We talked a lot about music. He found out that I want to be a singer when I get older, and he said that if his band, "The Monkees", didn't work out he'd be glad to help me. I told him he didn't need to, but he said he wanted to.

"That's nice of you, Peter," I said. _He's so thoughtful. And sweet. And cute. And nice. And... Stop while you're ahead, Rina,_ were my thoughts.

I told him I was going to go by my friends, and he nodded, saying he was gonna go talk to his friends. We parted, and I found Liz, Hailey, and Tina talking about the lake and other stuff.

"Those ducks were pretty cute," Hailey was saying, "But did you see that turtle? It was huge!"

"It was a snapping turtle," Liz told her, "And it had a camera."

"Why'd the turtle have a camera?" I asked.

The three girls turned to me, shrugging. "Dunno. Guess it just found it. It was an old camera, useless, anyways."

"It was a photo-snapping turtle," Tina joked. We laughed at that.

"So, what did you do while we were watching the turtle take pictures?" Liz asked.

"I met those guys who're in a band that you showed me. And I had to help them get a bat out of their cabin," I told her.

"Oh, a bat? Why couldn't they get it out?" Hailey asked.

I shrugged, saying that they were probably too chicken to do it themselves, or they were too lazy. We laughed at that.

Eventually the camp leaders called us all together to tell us what was happening after dinner (yeah; it was about 7:00 p.m. Time sure flew by after the last time we were around the campfire.). We were going on a night hike and had to have a partner from a different cabin then the one we were sleeping in. It was supposed to be an activity that helped us get to know everyone.

I thought about asking one of the girls from another cabin, or maybe asking Hailey or Tina. However, Tina had already snagged a partner, and Hailey was teamed up with Liz. Looks like I was going to have to get a partner after dinner.

Dinner was outside in a little pavilion uphill from the lake. It was hot dogs, baked beans, cole slaw, the works. Plus, there was a chocolate-chip cookie for each of us.

The one thing I noticed about the terrain of Camp Kiskow was the fact that there were so many hills here. There was one going up to the boys' cabins, there was one behind the boys' cabins, there was one going down to the lake, and probably one going down to the archery range, too. It was just really, really hilly here.

At about 8:00 p.m. we went had finished dinner and were lounging by some rocks by the pavilion.

I was stretched out on a big, flat rock, staring up at the darkening sky and thinking. Well, not really thinking, but my mind was coming up with random thoughts like "This rock is nice," and "The sky is pretty," and "I wonder what Mom's doing," and "Oh, there's Peter!"

I was staring up at Peter, who was standing over me, grinning.

"Hiya," I said, sitting upright.

"Hey," he responded.

"Whatcha want?" I asked. I motioned for him to go ahead and sit down, which he did.

"I was wondering... Will you be my partner for the night hike?" he asked me.

"Sure, Peter! I'd love too." I smiled at him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Melanie and Thalia with a bunch of other girls. Thalia was going on and on and on about something or other, while Melanie was looking towards me and Peter. Even in the semi-darkness, I could see a scowl on her face.

_What's her problem?_ I wondered, focusing back on Peter.

"Ok! So, it's supposed to start in half an hour, so we have some time to do whatever," he was saying, "So, you wanna get your friends and I'll get mine and we can skip rocks on the lake?"

Thank goodness he's suggesting bringing our friends. It'd be sort of weird to go off with alone with a boy at twilight, I thought while I said, "Good idea. I'll go get them!"

We stood up and went to round up our friends. Tina was staring off into space on a rock, and she gladly hopped up to do something. We found Hailey and Liz talking about the photo-snapping turtle again by the pavilion, and they said they'd go, but mostly to look for the turtle.

I brought them over to Peter's friends.

"Liz, Hailey, Tina, this is Peter, Mike, Micky and... Uh, sorry, I don't remember if I got your name," I introduced them.

"Davy," Melanie's brother said, rolling his eyes. "I'm Melanie Jones' brother."

"Oh, that's cool," Liz said.

We headed down to the lake and started looking for stones. Micky found a whole bunch but ended up losing most of them.

I found a few and put them in my pockets. I saw that Liz and Hailey were laughing at Micky, who had a hold in his pocket, and that's why most of his stones were lost. He hadn't noticed yet, but just gave the two girls a confused look.

Mike didn't really want to skip stones, but had gone just for the heck of it. Davy was pelting Tina with little, tiny pebbles, so they wouldn't hurt her too much. I think it was just his way of flirting with her.

Peter was busy finding all the stones he could. When his pockets were about to burst, he took off running the rest of the way down to the lake.

"Last one there's a dead monkey!" Micky shouted. It was on.

Liz ended up getting there right after Mike, and I almost beat Liz by one second. Tina and Hailey were tied, and Micky came in just before Davy, who brought up the rear.

"It's cause I'm short," he muttered. I tried not to laugh at his face.

We skipped stones for about 10 minutes. Hailey and Liz went off searching for the turtle, and Micky accompanied them. Tina was being chased by Davy, and Mike was sitting on the beach, so it was really just me and Peter skipping rocks.

"I think we've gotta go now," I said after a while. Peter nodded. Just then, we heard two screams and some laughter. We all turned to see Micky chasing Liz and Hailey back up the hill.

The rest of us followed them up the hill as they laughed and screamed and acted crazy. When we got to the top of the hill, the camp leaders made us get with our partners.

I was about to go over to Peter when I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned and saw Melanie standing there.

"Uh, yeah?" I asked.

"Who are you to hang out with _him_?" she retorted.

"Excuse me, what did you just say?" I glared at her. What the heck was wrong with this girl?

"Melanie."

Davy came up behind her and stood in front of her. "Let it be, ok? Peter's got a mind of his own."

"Fine!" She turned on her heel and stormed away, giving me one more icy glare.

I had to figure out what was going on before she drove me crazy.


	3. Accident on the Night Hike

Peter and I were almost dragging up the end of the line of campers as we hiked up yet another hill. These things were getting annoying, but was there anything I could do about it? Nope.

"This is fun," Peter said. I nodded. It was fun, despite the hills, because it was still a little light out and the scenery was pretty. The hills weren't pretty, but everything else was.

Liz and Hailey slowed down to talk to us.

"Isn't this great? I'm so glad they had us do this night hike. I wonder what else they're gonna have us do," Hailey said, grinning.

"Yeah," Peter and I agreed.

Liz said, "I wonder what else they'll have us doing? I mean, Mr. Dale didn't really say much about the night activities. All I know is that there's a lot of time to kill between 8:30 and 10:00."

10:00 pm was when the lights-out was for campers. We got up at 7:30 the next morning to brush our teeth, get dressed, and then go to the campfire circle to hear morning announcements. After that we eat breakfast, and then we do cabin and camp cleanup. Each cabin has a designated area in the camp to clean every week, and we're given points when the place is completely clean and sparkling. We get points deducted when there are pieces of trash lying around and such. At the end of each week the cabin with the most points gets some surprise or something. I guess that was ok for the youngest campers, the 13-year-olds, but not really for my age group.

"Hey, what classes are you signed up to do in the morning?" Hailey asked me.

"Um, archery, ceramics, and fishing, I think," I replied uncertainly.

Each week campers got to choose different classes to do, such as ceramics, crafts, camp snacks, etc. There were many choices to choose from, but it was pretty easy if you knew what stuff you were into.

"Oh, we might have ceramics together," Hailey said. I smiled.

"That'd be cool. What classes are you signed up for, Liz?"

"Archery, fishing, and... Um... Hm, I don't remember the last one," she answered.

"I'm signed up for guitar class, camp snacks, and LIT," Peter suddenly said.

"Oh, I really need to sign up for guitar class next week!" I exclaimed. I'd always wanted to play guitar but had never got a chance to take lessons. The camp provided guitars and taught lessons for classes, so I definitely had to sign up for it.

"I need to sign up for the leaders in training thing. It looks fun," Hailey said.

We were still walking up the trail when we realized the rest of the group was gone.

"Oh, great," I muttered, looking around the dark forest.

"My flashlight batteries are almost gone! And I thought I'd changed them this morning..." Liz muttered, switching the position of the batteries in her flashlight to try and get the last bit of power out of them.

"I've still got mine," I said. Peter had his too, and so did Hailey.

An owl hooted from a nearby tree, freaking me, Peter and Hailey out. Liz kept it cool and turned off her flashlight.

"Ok, maybe we should just go back the way we came and go to our cabins. They can yell at us later." Liz took charge immediately and did the smartest thing any of us could think of: backtrack.

We headed back down the hill, which was actually a bit harder than going up, one because it was dark and there were rocks and tree roots sticking up, two because Hailey and I were continuously almost-tripping.

Finally, I tripped over a rock and flew head-first into the dirt. "Ow..." I muttered, sitting up.

I tried to stand up, but my ankle hurt. _Oh, great. Is it twisted? It better not be..._

"Rina!" Peter ran to my side with Liz and Hailey right behind him. Liz looked at my ankle and lightly touched it.

"Ow! That hurt like heck," I yelled. She turned to me.

"It's most likely sprained. You do that a lot, don't you?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. And it always hurts right in that spot because when I was a little younger I got kicked in the foot by a black-belt in karate class. She didn't know how hard she was kicking me, the defenseless little orange belt."

"I can imagine you in karate..." Hailey muttered. "Ok, how are we gonna get you back to the cabins?"

I bit my lip in thought.

"Let me try to stand up again," I said. Liz and Peter got on either side of me and tried help me get up, but I just sat back down again.

"Nope; ain't gonna work," I said, "What now?"

Hailey looked up for a minute. "Wait, Peter, could you carry her?"

Peter was quiet for a minute. "I think so," he said finally.

"But if he trips on a stupid rock like I did we'll both get pretty banged up," I noted.

"Then what're we gonna do? Drag you back down the hill?" Liz asked in annoyance. She was getting impatient, and something told me that wasn't a good thing. She was trying to be patient with us, but she, like the rest of us, wanted to get into the security of the cabins.

"Fine! We'll try it," I muttered. Peter carefully scooped me into his arms and carried me princess-style down the hill. We were walking slowly as to try and not trip, and so far no one had fallen down.

Eventually we made it to the boys' cabins. I breathed a sigh of relief that the hill of terror was over with.

"Is the camp nurse in? Or did she go on the night hike?" Hailey asked.

"She went with everyone else on the hike in case something like this happened," Liz answered.

"Let's just get her into the cabin and get her foot upright," Peter ordered. We went down the hill and Liz opened the door to our cabin. Peter went in and set me down on the bed I told him was mine.

Hailey and Liz came in and Liz got a pillow for me to put my foot up on. I guess it was best to keep it elevated. I can't quite remember why, though.

The last thing I remember was a blonde head and a dark haired head coming into the cabin.

Then I drifted off to sleep.


	4. Wakin' Up To The Sound of Music

I woke up to the sound of music.

I opened my eyes and saw Peter playing guitar on Liz' bed. I sat upright, my foot still propped up on the pillow.

I noticed that there was a camp leader there. My first thought was, _"Oh no, is she going to kick Peter out?" _Then I realized it looked like she had been sitting on one of the two chairs in the room for a while, and Hailey was in the other chair, so everyone knew she was there.

Peter finished the song, which was The Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun". I loved that song.

"I'd clap if I could, but I'd just fall back onto the pillows," I said, grinning.

"Oh, good, you're awake," Liz said. "It's 7:00 in the morning."

"It is? How long have you two been here?" I looked from Hailey to Peter, my eyes questioning.

"Since 6:00. I woke up early, and I was trying to get Tina to come, but she wouldn't budge, so I got Peter," Hailey replied.

I nodded, looking at the camp leader. "You're the nurse, I'm guessing."

She smiled. "Yes; I'm Miss Karen. I wasn't at the introduction yesterday because I hadn't shown up yet, but I'm glad I did." She nodded to my foot.

"Melanie went down with me to go get the nurse, and Thalia ended up tagging along," Liz told me. Her eyes were telling a different story, however. Something told me I would be hearing all about what really happened whenever Miss Karen left.

I looked around the cabin. "Where are Thalia and Melanie?" I asked.

"They're in another cabin," Miss Karen answered, "With all the staff running around in here, and them needing sleep, they were temporarily moved to the empty girls' cabin that's right before you get to the hill leading to the boys' cabin."

"Oh. Ok," I said.

Miss Karen checked my foot and told me to get it elevated and that it should be better in a few days. Then she told Hailey, Peter, and Liz that they had to get ready for breakfast whether or not they wanted to. After that, she left to go back to her office.

"Peter, you're really good on that guitar," I commented to Peter as he stood up, guitar in hand.

He beamed. "Thanks, Rina."

I smiled back at him. He waved and said he'd be back to check up on me later, and then he headed to his cabin.

"How'd he get in here without the camp counselors getting on his case?" I asked Liz.

"Well, when Hailey and I told them how he carried you down the hill and into the cabin, they let it slide. Dunno why, though. Guess they're more understanding then other people I know," Liz replied.

Hailey stood up. "Ok, I've gotta go. See y'all later," she said, waving and walking out the door.

"Ok, that thing about Melanie and Thalia was not true. That's not how it happened," Liz said. Just like I thought she would.

"Oh? I had no clue," I retorted sarcastically as Liz rushed around to get her clothes for the day together. I noticed she was wearing a black pajama top with white pajama pants. I was still in my clothes from yesterday.

"Thalia came in and started asking stuff like, 'Why is there a guy in my cabin?' 'You guys ditched the night hike.' 'I'm so telling on you four.' Then I went out the door to get the nurse, and I heard Thalia tell Melanie to follow me. Of course, they both ended up following me, but anyways. So, I got to the nurse's office before they could, and I told Miss Karen what happened. Then, Thalia and Melanie stormed in and started saying, 'They weren't on the hike,' and 'They let a guy into our cabin,' and such," she said.

I started laughing. "Man, Thalia's such a drama queen."

Liz nodded. "Well, then Miss Karen came up here and Hailey vouched for me. So she checked out your ankle while you were asleep and said it was just a sprain, then a bunch of other camp leaders came in, and then Thalia and Melanie left to go to that other cabin."

"I wish they could just stay in that cabin," I muttered.

"Yeah," Liz said, sighing. "Ok, I've gotta go brush my teeth and all. You're ok for now, right?"

I nodded. "I'm good."

"'Kay. Oh, hey, if you get bored, you can go ahead and read my book." She placed a thick book on my bed and then went out to the bathrooms.

I picked up the book. "'Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring'," I read aloud. I cracked it open to the first page and started reading.

I had gotten through 2 chapters of the book when Liz walked in with a plate of pancakes, hash brown, and a fruit cup. Surprisingly, she was also balancing a glass of orange juice, as well.

"Room service," she joked. I rolled my eyes and smiled as she set the plate down on the little nightstand that was in between my bed and hers.

"Thanks, Liz," I said. "For the food, the book, the support, everything, practically!"

She smiled. "No problem. That's what friends are for, right?"

"I dunno. Is that what friends are for? I thought it was just to borrow money from one another," I said seriously. Liz rolled her eyes and laughed.

"So, do you like the book? It's one of my favorites," she said.

"It's ok so far. A little boring, but ok,," I told her.

"It gets better; trust me!" she insisted as she headed for the door. "Hailey's coming over in a little bit to keep an eye on you. Then Peter's coming, with Miss Karen, and then Tina."

"Oh, ok. So you guys are trading off who's got guard duty every class?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Tomorrow we're changing it again and Tina's coming first."

"'Kay."

"Ok, I'll see you at lunch or whenever. I don't know who has room service next," she said as she opened the door.

"Well, whoever it is had better bring me food. That's for certain." We laughed as she said "bye" and headed off to her first class.

I stared up at the ceiling for a moment until I heard the door open.

"Hailey?" I looked towards the doors and was surprised to see Peter.

"Sorry. Hailey kind of had to be at her first class, so I took over," he explained.

"Oh. What is her first class?"

"Canoeing. They have to take the swimming test today or else they can't do the class all week."

"That sucks."

We were quiet for a moment as Peter came over and sat down on Liz' bed.

"'Lord of the Rings'?" he asked, looking down at the book that was sitting next to me.

"Oh, yeah. Liz lent that too me." I picked it up and looked around for a page marker.

Peter handed me a piece of paper that had a list of camp schedules in it. I stuck it in the book where I had stopped reading and then looked back at Peter.

"Hey, you brought your guitar!" I exclaimed. I hadn't noticed that he had brought his guitar in with him.

"I thought you might wanna hear it. You seemed to like it a lot earlier," he said, picking up the acoustic guitar and strumming a few chords on it. Then he started playing a slow song that I'd never heard before. It was beautiful and almost brought tears to my eyes.

He finished and looked at me for critique on his song.

"It was really pretty. I loved it, Peter. Who wrote it? I've never heard it before," I said.

"The band wrote it. It's called 'I Wanna be Free'. Davy sings it really, but sometimes when no one's listening I play and sing it to myself."

"Do you sing any other songs?" I asked.

"A few. Micky's the lead singer, though."

"Oh."

There was another awkward silence for a moment as we sort of looked at each other, then down, then at random objects in the room, then back at each other.

"Can you play another Beatles song for me, please?" I finally broke the silence.

"Ok. Any requests?"

"Um, no. You pick."

He thought for a moment and then started playing "Hey Jude". He started singing, too, and soon I found myself singing along with him.

"Na-na-na-nananana, nananana, hey Jude." We finished the song and smiled at each other.

"You're a really good singer," we both said to each other at the same time. Then we laughed.

Was it just me, or was I kind of starting to maybe sort of not really maybe just a little like Peter?


	5. She's a Faker

Hailey rushed into my room a few minutes after Peter left.

"I'm so sorry, but I really needed to take the swim test. They were gonna make me wait another week to take the test," she explained apologetically.

"It's ok. Peter came, and—"

"Wait, PETER came? What about the nurse? Oh, please say that she came, too," Hailey said as she rushed over to my bed.

Miss Carson came in just then. Hailey groaned and banged her head on the bed.

"What's wrong, Miss Kinly?" Miss Carson came over to the bed and knelt by Hailey.

"Peter came in here to take over for me. I thought Liz said she was gonna do it!" she wailed.

I frowned. "What's the huge problem, Hailey? I don't see anything wrong with—Oh."

Miss Carson frowned a bit too. "Why did Peter come in and take over when you said you were going to watch Irina?"

Hailey bit her lip. "Well, they wouldn't let me take the swim test tomorrow and I was going to have to take it next week if I didn't take it today. So, Eliza said she'd take over here for me, and then she sent Peter in!"

"But we didn't do anything! You know Peter ain't that kind of guy, Hailey!" I reached over and touched her arm.

She lifted her head and looked at me. "Sorry," she apologized, "It's just that I know how much trouble boys can be sometimes, and I..." She trailed off and stared out the window next to me.

I tried not to roll my eyes at her overreaction. I mean, not even Miss Carson was acting like it was a big deal.

"I trust you and Peter, it's just some of the other girls, like that James kid... Um, Thalia, was it?" Miss Carson said. She checked my ankle and then told me and Hailey that it was fine, and I had nothing to worry about.

Hailey was still freaking out over the whole "Peter and Rina" fiasco. She was starting to get on my nerves, and that's never a good thing. Don't ever get on Irina Eliana Gonzalez' nerves.

Miss Carson left, saying she had other kids to attend to. I wondered who they might be.

"So all he did was sing?" Hailey asked me about Peter.

I nodded. "Yeah, and we talked about a few other things."

"Like what?" Her eyes got a little wider and I sighed.

"Music, books, life," I replied.

"As long as nothing really intimate happened."

My mouth flew open. "Hailey! Good grief, you remind me of my mother!"

She sighed. "I'm sorry. I just have a big sisterly instinct."

"Like, you consider me your younger sister?"

"Kinda. Though you're only a few months younger."

"What about Liz? She's older than me."

"But she's a week younger than I am." She smiled a little.

"What?"

"Nothin'. Just remembering something." She shook her head a little and then started talking about her little sister, Reagan.

Reagan sort of sounded like my sister, Carrie. Carrie was annoying, tomboyish, moody, and a lot like me. Though she was always a little brat, I still loved her.

"Hello? Earth to Rina!" Hailey waved her hand in front of my face.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. Guess I zoned out or something," I apologized.

"'S okay. I do it a lot," she said.

"So... I'm bored now." I looked at my hurt foot in disgust. _If I wasn't hurt..._

"Oh my gosh! I've gotta go. It's third period! I'll wait for Tina outside, 'kay?" Hailey was suddenly jumping around frantically and looking out the window.

"Ok, you go ahead," I told her. She rushed out the door and I heard her yelling something like, "Tina! Tina, Peter was in there alone with Rina!"

I sighed. Whether or not Hailey realized it she had a horrible gossiping streak in her.

Tina walked in just then.

"Hey, Rina. I heard about the thing with Peter. Of course, Hailey probably blew it outta proportion. She did, didn't she? What really happened?" She pulled a chair up to my bed and we talked until Liz walked in with a tray of food.

"Delivery for Miss Irina Gonzalez!" she sang out. I grinned.

"Oh, it's lunchtime already?" Tina asked, standing up from her chair to help Liz get my food.

Liz nodded and placed the tray on the table next to the bed. Tina set the drink down on the table and spun around to look at the door.

Peter and his friends were standing there and singing.

"Hope you get better soon, Rina! Hope you get better today. Hope you get better, dear Rina! Hope you get better today." Mike and Peter grinned and bowed. Micky pretended like he was some great singer at a concert. Davy imitated Micky.

"Y'all are too much!" I yelled out at them, grinning.

Since Peter was the only one allowed in the cabin, the other three guys crowded around the window next to the bed as Peter walked into the cabin.

"You are feeling better, right?" Mike asked.

I nodded. "Yeah; I think I'll be able to walk again in a couple days."

"Good." He stepped out of the way to let Davy jump up and try to talk. He was so short that it was nearly impossible for him to see through the window without jumping.

"Hope-You-Get-Better-Rina-And-Thanks-For-Getting-The-Bat-Out-Yesterday!" he said when he jumped up.

"The bat was no problem, honest. Don't you guys have to go eat?" I asked. The three guys nodded and said bye, and Tina said she had K.P. duty, so she left. Liz and Peter claimed they'd already eaten, so they stayed behind to keep me company.

"Y'all are really good friends," I said.

"Naw. We're all really enemies," Liz told me sarcastically, flopping down on her bed.

"Huh?" Peter frowned in confusion. Obviously he didn't catch the sarcasm in Liz' voice.

"She's joking, Peter," I explained. His confusion cleared as he just said "Oh."

"Peter!"

We looked towards the door and saw a brown haired boy standing at the door.

_Sometimes I wish that we didn't have to have the screen door closed and the wood door open..._ I thought as Liz and Peter went to the door.

"What is it, Wayne?" Peter asked.

"They're looking for you in dodgeball," the brown haired boy said. He glanced at Liz and then back at me.

Then, he looked back at Liz, eyes raking swiftly up and down her body and then shifting back to Peter.

_One, he just checked Liz out; two, he's gotta be in one of Peter's classes; three, they must be starting organized group activities now. Huh. That was fast,_ I thought.

Peter nodded at Wayne and then turned back to me. "Guess I gotta get going. See you later, Rina." He waved at me and Liz and then left.

"I got permission to stay in from the activity today!" Liz spun around and sat down onto her bed.

"Hooray!" I grinned.

"So, are you into him or what?" she asked right off the bat.

"What the heck! Liz, I hardly know him, and why do you care anyways?" I asked in surprise.

She shrugged. "Well, we're 16, and I can't think of much else to talk about."

I sighed. "Well..."

She grinned. "I can tell! You totally like him!"

"Do not!" I felt my face turn red in embarrassment.

"Do too! You like Peter!" she sang out.

I frowned and stared forward. "Fine. I like Peter. But what about you and Mi—"

Liz got this weird look in her eyes and suddenly said , "So, have you read and more of the book?" She pointed to the "Lord of the Rings" book she'd loaned me earlier.

"Oh, well, I haven't had much time... Hailey hacked my ears off and Tina was talking and then y'all came, so... Not much time!" I answered, a little confused at why the sudden subject change.

"Oh, yeah, Hailey went on and on about how you and Peter were alone in the cabin together. She's a little... Ugh, what's the word?" She snapped her fingers as she tried to think up the right word.

"Busybody?" I offered. She shrugged.

"Close enough."

"You don't really like her, do you?"

"Well, you should've seen her yesterday! She went on and on and on about 'how hot Mike is'. It was thoroughly weird." She grimaced a little at the memory.

"You know, I honestly am starting to think that she's more of a closet girly-girl then she acts," I suddenly blurted. I immediately felt guilty. I hated gossiping, but that had just slipped out. It was what I thought, though.

Liz, however, just brushed it off, saying,

"I think you're right."


	6. Here's a Rumor, There's a Rumor

The rest of the day was pretty boring. Liz had to do something for one of the counselors, Tina hadn't shown up since that morning, Hailey was with a few other people playing tetherball, and Peter was doing I don't know what. So, it was just me, the cabin, and the Lord of the Rings book. I'd gotten to chapter 4 and it was just starting to get exciting when Melanie walked in.

"Oh, hi," I said as she walked over to her bed.

"Hi." She had a frown on her face as she went through one of her bags. Suddenly, something shot out of her hand and fell on the floor next to me.

It was a photo of her and some guy—I couldn't tell what he looked like because the sun was shining right on thatside of the photo.

"What's that?" I asked out of curiosity.

"It's nothing," she muttered, walking over and picking up the photo. The minute she moved it out of the sun I saw exactly who the guy was.

"That's... Peter," I blurted.

Melanie narrow her eyes. "It's none of your business!" She stalked back over to her bag, picture in hand.

I realized that they must've been together at one point in time. 'That would explain last night's little scene,' I thought, 'She thinks I'm moving in on her guy.' I felt a sudden weird pang in my chest. They'd looked so happy in that picture...

"Look, I know you and Peter are together, and I'm not trying to move in on your guy—" I started.

"He and I... We're over! You know what? I don't care if you move in on him! He's just going to throw you away like he did with me!" she yelled. With that, she stomped out of the room, dark brown ponytail swinging as she walked.

'That's what Davy must've meant yesterday...' I realized. 'Peter's and Melanie are unhappy because of their breakup, and now they're at the same camp together, and that just makes things worse. Plus, Melanie's still crazy about him and... I bet he's still crazy... About... Her.'

I rested my head on the pillow behind me and sighed. Peter still liked Melanie, so there wasn't much of a reason for me to consider moving in on him.

~An Hour Later~

I was still thinking about Peter and Melanie when I heard a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" I hollered, straining to see through the screen door.

"A guy with a wool hat," came the familiar Texas accented voice.

I grinned. "Hey, Mike! Are you allowed to come in?"

"I got written permission to talk to you for fifteen minutes. They're stricter on me than Peter since I'm not the one who carried you here." He walked in and sat down in one of the chairs that Hailey had left by my bed.

"So, what's up?" I asked.

"It's Peter. I don't know if you know this, but he and Melanie were together a few months ago, and then they broke up..."

I nodded. "Yeah, I know that."

"Well, I have a theory that Peter's still crazy about Melanie, and—"

"She's still crazy about him. Yeah, I know that. If they like each other that much why did they break up?"

"She... Sort of cheated on him."

"Oh..."

"Anyways, Peter knows that she's not the best kind of girl for him. She's a little bit of a flirt whether or not she realizes it. And she has a tendency to chest unless she really likes the guy she's with. Other than that, she's ok."

"What are you saying? Get him to meet other girls? I mean, there's Liz, and Hailey, and Tina, and a whole bunch of other girls here."

"What I'm saying is he doesn't want to meet another girl. He doesn't trust anyone, even us guys, and we're his best friends! What I'm thinking is that if you hung out with him he'd start to trust girls again."

"Perhaps it's just that he's not ready to be in another relationship so soon, you know?" I couldn't see the point of forcing Peter into a relationship when he didn't want one.

"I've thought about that, and the thing is, he is ready. He just can't gain enough trust in any one girl to ask them out. As a matter of fact, yesterday I heard him debating out loud on whether or not to ask this one chick that he's kinda into out." He looked at me as if I should know who that girl was.

"And who's the lucky girl?" I found myself asking. I didn't have any clue who it was.

Mike stood up. "You'll figure it out sooner or later. Could you just promise me this one thing, please?"

I sighed. "Alright, but I don't have the slightest clue as to why you're asking me to do this."

He smiled. "You'll figure it out. See you later, Rina."

"Bye." And then Mike left.

I still didn't know why he asked me this.

~After Dinner~

Peter came in after Liz and Hailey had left with the dishes. He wasn't carrying his guitar now, so I sort of felt my smile fade as he sat on Liz' bed. I loved his music.

I have something very weird to tell you," he announced as soon as he sat down.

"And what's that?" I asked.

"I think Mike's into you. He was playing his guitar and sort of singing this song about a girl," he answered.

"And what makes you think that I'm the girl?"

"He said 'She's got pretty dark hair, she don't got a care about what anyone thinks. Eyes the softest brown and the sweetest smile. She's true, she's honest, she's the girl in my dreams.'"

"Why do you think it's me? Besides the brunette with brown eyes part."

"Well, so far you don't care what anyone thinks, or you haven't heard the rumors—"

"What rumors?" I gasped.

"Well, someone said that you... Er... Um... Never mind. You'll hear about it sooner or later." He looked down, embarrassed that he'd said anything.

I sighed. Whatever it was, it was probably nothing.

"Ok, well, so far I find you really honest, and true. And you do have a cute smile." Peter grinned a little.

"Aw, thanks, Peter," I said. I would've hugged him if I could, probably. Oh well.

"Do you like Mike?" he asked.

"Well, I like him as a friend. I'm kinda into someone else right now." Oh, if he knew who I was into...

He nodded a little. "Oh. Well, he is a nice guy from what I hear." He grinned as I giggled a little.

"I know that, but I just don't like him. That's all," I told him.

"Ok, ok. I get it. Hey, how's your ankle?" he asked, looking at my foot, which was still propped up on the pillows.

"It doesn't hurt right now. Actually, it hasn't hurt at all today," I replied.

Then I thought, 'Maybe it's healed.' I decided to try moving it a little bit.

Very gingerly, I moved my foot up, and off of the pillows. Peter raised his eyebrows as I slowly sat upright on the bed and then stood.

"It doesn't hurt. I thought sprains took longer than that to heal," I exclaimed as I walked around the cabin.

Just then, Thalia walked in. She looked at Peter and then plastered this completely fake smile on her face.

"Oh, hi Pete. Hello, Rina," she said.

Peter frowned. I'd overheard he hated being called "Pete".

"Hi, Thalia," he said. I nodded in acknowledgement. I didn't want to talk to this chick.

"Oh, I see you're walking now, Rina," Thalia noted, glancing at my feet.

"Oh, yeah," I said, refusing to say anything more. She had this strange look on her face, right behind her fake smile.

"Oh, I have to ask, is Peter your next client?" she asked me. I frowned.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Oh, honey, it's ok. We all know how poor your family is and what you have to do to make money. Dealing, I'm so sorry," she ended her sentence with enough accent on the sugar-sweet facade she was putting up that it made me and Peter cringe.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Peter looking very uncomfortable. Was I about to find out the rumor he hadn't wanted to tell me?

"Aw, honey, really, you can't go on pretending. Just let it go. Everyone knows that you're a... You know..." Thalia trailed off, a very evil look in her eyes.

"No..." I muttered. I understood right away exactly what she meant. And I was not that. I was not that at all.

"That is not true at all," I stated. Thalia pretended to look surprised.

"Why, you're so stubborn! Don't worry. You're secret is safe with everyone at camp," she walked over and patted my shoulder. I grimaced slightly.

"Well, I must be going. I have other business to attend to." She flounced over to her purse (which was sitting on her bed,) and walked out, not after waving at Peter. As she walked out, I swear I heard thunder crash and an evil witch cackle.

"It's not true. I know that," Peter said quietly.

I clenched my fists. "I know it's not true! I ain't no slut!"

I had said worse things in my life, but I never said "slut" to describe myself. So, I was obviously really, really ticked off.

"Most people can tell that you're not! It's obvious you're a Christian," he said, walking over and standing in front of me.

"It is?" This was news to me.

"Yeah. You've got this sort of "glow" around you. You and Liz, that is. You can tell by the fact you don't swear... Out loud, at least," he answered.

'Wow... I have a "glow". Cool!' I thought to myself. That made me forget a moment about what Thalia had said.

"That's... Cool. I'm glad most people notice," I said.

"So am I. It sort of salvages what's left of your reputation," he noted. I smiled. He was trying so hard to make this seem as less awful as it could be. It was sweet. A lot of guys wouldn't care.

"I really hope that my parents don't hear about this." I sighed. They would freak if they thought I was "selling myself" for money.

Peter nodded and we went outside. It was twilight, with just a little bit of red-orange sunlight.

I sat down on the steps and put my head in my hands. This stupid rumor was probably going to ruin the rest of camp. Was there any way I could stop it? I didn't know.


	7. Peter Loses It

"Oh my gosh! Rina! You're up!" Liz' surprised voice smashed through my thoughts. I looked up and saw the blue-eyed girl walking, no, jogging over to where I was sitting. Peter had left a few minutes ago, saying he'd be back in a minute. He had to go get something from his cabin.

"Yup. Up and walking. The ankle's still a little sore, but over all, it's ok." I stood up and walked down the steps to show that I could walk.

"I thought sprains took longer than that to heal," she said doubtfully.

"That's what I thought, too, but apparently—" I was cut off by a shout from across the path behind me.

Liz' eyes went wide as she dashed inside the cabin.

"Don't tell him I'm here!" she hissed as she ducked behind the door.

I turned to see the black haired boy from earlier that day running up.

"Was Liz here? I swear I saw her," he asked, panting a little. I frowned. _So, this guy's trying to hit on Liz? That's kinda funny... _

"Um, no, she just left. She had to go to the rest room," I lied. I hated lying, but this guy was seriously giving Liz a hard time. I could tell from her reaction to him.

He frowned back at me.

"I know she's in there. If you don't let me go see her, I'll pound your face in." He cracked his knuckles.

I stood up straighter. "Oh yeah? I'd love to see you try."

He had no clue that I was a 3rd Dan black belt and the top girl student in my class. But, I had just sprained my ankle, so that would obviously restrain me in the speed department. Did I care? Does water taste like grape juice? No!

"Really?" He narrowed his eyes and took a swig at me.

I ducked and let my right leg swing out and hit the back of his ankle. He was off balance for a second, giving me enough time to jump up and throw a quick punch to his side.

"What in the name of Germanyare you doing, Irina?"

Melanie walked out from behind a bewildered Wayne and crossed her arms over her chest. Even though she was 5'2", she looked pretty deadly when she was mad.

"Uh..." I was at a loss for words as the younger girl looked from me to Wayne and back.

"See, this is exactly why you aren't a good match for Peter! You're too violent!" She tossed her hair and then walked into the cabin.

I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly.

"I guess I'll be going," Wayne said, turning and storming off in the direction of the boys' cabins.

Liz peeked out from the cabin door as soon as he left.

"So, where'd you learn to do that? The karate stuff, I mean," she asked, walking down the steps and facing me.

"My stepdad thought it would be best to get me in something that would keep me out of the house for a few hours, so he signed me up for karate." I shrugged. "He doesn't like me that much."

She frowned. "Why not?"

"I dunno. I guess it's because I remind him too much of his ex-wife or something. That's what Mama says, anyways," I answered, shrugging again. I never did anything to that man that made him despise me so.

Peter came walking up then with Micky trailing along behind him. Liz turned maybe 5 different shades of red (I'm not joking!) when she saw our drummer friend.

"Howdy, Mick," I said.

"Hi." Liz just looked down at her feet and fidgeted awkwardly.

"Hey, Rina. Hi Liz." Micky smiled at me and then looked away from Liz, biting his lip.

"Uh... Yeah. Micky wanted to come say hi to Liz. And I brought this for you," Peter said, pulling out a book from behind his back.

I stared at the cover. "You're kidding, right? This is, like, a collector's item!"

It was a complete sheet music book of every Beatles' song there was. Peter flipped open the cover and I almost passed out from shock.

"How did you get it signed?" I squealed, gingerly touching the signature of George Harrison.

"My mom's ex-boyfriend gave it to her in the 60s. He had connections," Peter explained, handing me the book. "I have copies of everything in the book, and you told how much you needed the sheet music for their songs. So I want you to have it."

I gasped. "B-but it's your mother's! I can't take this, Peter."

He grinned. "It's ok. She said once I learned all the songs in the book it was mine to do with what I wanted. I finished learning all the songs about a month ago."

I hugged him. "Thank you so much, Peter! You have no idea what this means to me."

"I think I have a pretty good idea... If the fact that I can't breathe is by any means a way to measure how happy you are right now," he gasped. I let him go.

"Sorry, I—" I started, when I heard the screen door slam behind me.

I whirled around and saw Melanie standing there.

"Oops. Was I interrupting something? I'm so sorry if I just cost your family some money, Rina." Melanie's accent was laced with fake concern. _She sounds way too much like Thalia, _I thought.

Suddenly Peter was walking up the steps toward Melanie.

"Look, Melanie, I know you're still mad about our break up. But you don't have to take it out on Rina, ok? Just because I broke up because you are a selfish girl who doesn't know when to say no doesn't mean that you have to be a—to every girl I meet!"

I felt my eyes widen as Peter continued. Melanie just stood there, mouth open in disbelief. She was shocked that her ex-boyfriend, the supposedly sweet, "dumb" bass guitarist, told her exactly what was on his mind. With cursing.

Liz poked me in the arm. I turned my head to her. She raised an eyebrow and smirked a little. "He's saying that because he likes you. You know that, right?"

I rolled my eyes and looked back at Peter.

"I... I... I..." Melanie stammered. Then, without one word, she stormed back into the cabin.

Peter turned around and walked back down the steps

"You don't know how long I've wanted to say that to her," he told me.

Micky started clapping. Peter and I both shot him a look that said "Enough's enough."

"Don't you have to be getting to your cabin? It's almost lights-out, you know," I said, almost reluctantly. Peter bit his lip a little.

"Yeah, I guess we do have to get going," Micky said. Suddenly a flash of golden hair sped by and stopped next to Micky.

"Hiya, Micky!" Hailey smiled. _Oh great..._

Liz narrowed her eyes and clenched her fist noticeably to Peter and me. If Hailey saw, I'll never know.

"Uh, hi and bye, Hailey. I have to get back to my cabin," Micky said, unease screaming out in every word. It was obvious he wasn't comfortable around Hailey. He looked at Liz and sort of flashed a smile. "Uh, bye, Eliza..." And then he walked away.

"I'd better be going, too," Peter said. "See you tomorrow."

"See ya later, Peter," I said, waving as he walked back towards his cabin.

Hailey turned back to us, trying to hide the dismay in her eyes that Micky had specifically smiled and said good bye to _Liz_ and not _her_.

"I, uh, need to talk to Thalia. Is she here?" Hailey asked me, not bothering to look at Liz.

"No, she's not here. What do you need to talk about?" I asked.

"Nothing. I'll just talk to her in the morning. Well, see y'all later," she said, flouncing off to her cabin.

I blinked and started snickering.

"Good grief," Liz said, shaking her head and smiling.

We walked back into the cabin, talking about how weird Hailey was and Micky's weird behavior.

But what we found in the cabin was not at all what we were expecting.


	8. The Truth Behind Melanie

Melanie was gone, and so was all of my stuff. My bed, suitcase, and backpack were trashed and thrown in every which way. It was like a child had had a major temper tantrum and thought my stuff was the perfect thing to chuck across the room.

"This is stupid and immature," I said. Liz nodded.

"She has no right to do that to your stuff. She vandalized your stuff, and that's illegal," she said, helping me pick up some of the stuff that was thrown around the room.

_Where is she?_ I thought as I put the last of my stuff away. Luckily she hadn't gotten into anything major important, but she had done enough to tick me off.

"I'm going to go look for her," I said, heading out the door.

"Wait!" Liz called, grabbing my shirt and pulling me back. "That might be just what she wants. Look, I'm no expert on this, but she's being immature. Peter knows that. That's the reason she's mad at you. If you act cool and all, it'll not only impress Peter, but show her that she can't beat you by doing stupid stuff."

There was enough logic in what Liz said to make me stop. I sighed.

"Alright, but if there's another stunt like this soon, I'm telling a counselor." I walked back over to my suitcase and pulled out my sleeping stuff. Then, I headed to the bathrooms, which were located almost directly across from my cabin.

I sighed as I started brushing my teeth. If Melanie kept acting up like this, I was destined to get angry and do something I'd regret later.

I walked out of the bathroom, and headed back to the cabin when I heard someone arguing about something behind the bathrooms.

"That voice sounds oddly familiar," I muttered as I sneaked along the wall and listened to the argument.

"...Trashing her crap isn't enough! You've got to do more than that if you really want to piss her off!" The first voice was definitely a female, and an angry one at that.

"But I don't want to make her angry! You're the one who wants that!" the second voice, also female, retorted. Something clicked inside my head when I realized that voice number 2 had a British accent. And there were only two people at camp with that accent: Davy and Melanie.

"Shut up! Walls have ears, ya know, and we're right outside the girls' bathroom! I don't want anyone to know about this, you got that?" Voice number 1 was doing a pretty good job of yelling softly. If that's even possible.

"Thalia..." Melanie growled. _Thalia? She's the one who made Melanie trash my stuff? I've done nothing to her!_ I thought as I continued listening to the conversation.

"Irina!" I turned my head and saw Liz coming out of the bathroom. I put a finger to my lips and she frowned.

There was silence from Thalia and Melanie. I bit my lip and thought that they might've heard Liz.

"Thalia, I'm not doing this anymore. I'm not mad at her at all. I don't care if she likes Petah," Melanie said.

"Oh, you are _so_ not going there. Ew, no. You can NOT go all sweet and innocent on me," Thalia retorted. "I still have it in for your brother, remember?"

"What in the world..." Liz muttered. She was next to me, also eavesdropping on the other two girls' conversation.

"Leave David out of this!" Melanie's voice rose to a squeak.

"He still needs to pay up for ruining my necklace! That was about $500 bucks, mind you. And he doesn't have the money, and he's busy, and that's why you agreed to pay up for him," Thalia said.

"That makes a lot of sense," I murmured to Liz. She nodded.

I heard Melanie sigh. "Look, I have a lot of stuff in my bags. I can give you something—"

"_Nothing_ will replace that necklace! It was priceless! An antique!" Thalia argued.

"Then why in the world did you bring it to a summer camp? That's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard of!"

"SHUT UP!" Thalia yelled back at Melanie.

That was it for Liz. She brushed past me and walked over to the corner.

"Eliza!" I hissed. She waved her hand and stepped out so that Thalia and Melanie could see her.

"Talia!" Liz crossed her arms over her chest.

I peeked around the corner and then walked out next to Liz. Melanie got noticeably paler when she saw me. It was either that, or the floodlight nearby was casting weird shadows over her face.

Thalia's green eyes looked like they were about to pop. I fought the urge to laugh at the look on her face.

"You... You... You aren't supposed to be out here!" Thalia said weakly.

"Neither are you, hun," I said, smirking. Thalia frowned.

"Well...Uh...Uh...Uh..." she stammered. It was hilarious, seeing the one person you never think would mess up do something like that.

"Thought so. So, it was you who made Melanie mess up my stuff, wasn't it?" I accused Thalia.

"Uh, not exactly... I...Er..." she looked down. "Yeah. It was me." She looked up, narrowing her eyes. "Whatcha gonna do about it?"

"And it was you who planted those rumors about Rina, wasn't it?" Liz stepped forward, blue eyes flashing.

"You could say that," Thalia muttered.

Melanie just stood there, eyes getting wider and wider.

"Melanie, c'mon," I said, motioning to her. She bit her lip and then glanced at Thalia.

"But..." she murmured. I reached out and grabbed her arm.

"I know you don't want to be here. Leave her to wallow in all her snobbery." I smiled a little.

Melanie stood there for a minute. "O-ok," she said finally, looking back at Thalia and then walking back to the cabin with me and Liz.

"I'm sorry I had to trash your part of the cabin, Rina," she said when we got into the cabin, "It's just Davy broke Thalia's necklace yesterday, on accident, and then he had to do some stuff with the guys, and he doesn't have any money with him, so I told Thalia I'd repay her for the necklace. Then, when she found out I was mad at you, she thought it would be a great opportunity to make someone else miserable and not have any blame fall on her. So, she said that you were a... You know...And made everyone think I was the one who said that, and then she told me to throw your stuff everywhere. By then I wasn't angry at you, I was just ticked off at her. And then, when I told her so, she got angry, and...Well, you know the rest."

"It's ok... Just as long as you don't hang out with her anymore," I said.

Melanie smiled a little. "Trust me; I won't."


	9. Micky's Choice

I woke up to the sun shining on my face. I sat up in bed, and, upon looking around, I saw that Liz was almost falling out of her bed, while Thalia was on the floor, snoring away. I stifled my laughter and slipped out of bed, heading over to my suitcase and grabbing some clothes.

I checked my watch, which was on the nightstand between me and Liz' beds, and I was surprised to see that it was only 6:30. I only needed to be awake in half an hour, and I could see some of the kids had sneaked out of their cabins and were walking around. Technically we weren't supposed to be out of our cabins until 7, but if we were up earlier there were a few bored kids who'd get together and talk. Or, they'd do some other stuff.

Right now it looked like a few kids were hanging out in the woods outside of the girl's bathroom. I grabbed my clothes, toiletries, and slipped into some sandals. Then I headed out the door quietly.

After I finished what I needed to do in the bathroom I went back to the cabin and put my stuff back, confident that no one would trash anything this morning. I went back outside and headed over to the group in the woods.

I saw Tina was there, minus Hailey, and Mike and Davy were there.

"Hey, y'all," I said, walking over to them, "What's going on?"

Tina looked at me. "Well, those three kids with the mowhawks are talking about the latest drug, those two girls are talking about Davy, and we're just standing here talking about nothing in particular."

"Oh." I looked at the boys with mowhawks and raised a brow. _They look like they're on something already, _I thought in disgust.

"Have you noticed how Hailey's been acting lately? It's positively weird," Tina asked me.

"You mean the flirting with Mi—I mean guys... And the whole 'I need to talk to Thalia right away!' thing? Yeah," I answered. She bit her lip.

"Right after that night when we all went to the beach, she changed a little," Tina said. I raised a brow, and so did Mike and Davy.

"'Ow'd she change?" Davy asked.

"She... She wouldn't shut up about this one guy, and then she said she thought the guy was into Eliza, so she started freaking out and saying that she'd need help getting the guy to like her, and... It was completely un-Hailey like!" Tina exclaimed. "I've known her since 7th grade, and let me tell you... She's never, ever gone crazy over a guy like this. It's not like her at all."

I didn't really see the problem. "So, she flips over one guy, what's the biggie?"

Tina stared at me, green eyes wide. "You don't get it! I talked to the guy, and he really does like Eliza! And a guy has never turned down Hailey."

I bit my lip. I knew who Hailey liked (it was completely obvious that she and Liz liked the same guy,) and from Tina's strained voice and look, I could tell she was serious.

"Well, why don't we get Hailey interested in another guy? There are plenty of them around. Heck, why don't we get her interested in Mike?" I suggested, grinning at Mike.

Mike rolled his eyes. "I have a girlfriend."

I raised a brow. "Oh? Who's that?"

"Her name's Layla. She looks a lot like you, except her hair is a little longer." Mike got a faraway look in his eyes. "I've been trying to write a song for her."

_That must be why Peter thought Mike liked me,_ I thought, _Mike said that this Layla girl looks like me. Peter must've thought Mike was singing about me!_

"Hey, um, guys..."

I turned to see Melanie walking up to us. She wasn't wearing her usually purple eye shadow or dark lipstick. She actually looked prettier than when she had the make up on.

"Mellie!" Davy hugged his sister and she smiled.

"Stop! There are people watching!" She giggled a little.

I smiled. She definitely wasn't the same Melanie as yesterday. She'd changed for the better.

"Oh my gosh, you like Micky? How could you!"

My eyes widened as I slowly turned towards the voice of Hailey Kinly. She was screaming at a really mad-looking Liz. I frowned.

"You knew I liked him, and then you have to go and move in on him like that? HOW COULD YOU?" Hailey screamed. Liz looked like it was taking all of her self-control not to punch Hailey right then and there.

I stomped over and stood between Hailey and Liz. "What in the world are you talking about, Hailey?"

Hailey stared at me with angry blue eyes. "It's none of your business, Irina! So butt the heck out!"

By now everyone was staring at us. Melanie had this weird look on her face, Mike looked like he wanted to tell Hailey off, Davy looked angry, and Tina... I couldn't decipher Tina's face. It was like confusion, anger, and surprise all mixed into one.

Liz put a hand on my shoulder and gently pushed me out of the way.

"This is my fight, Rina. Let me fight it by myself," she said quietly. I just stood there.

She narrowed her deep blue eyes at Hailey and said, "Look, Hailey. I didn't have the slightest clue that you liked Micky. No one did."

Hailey looked like she was about to explode. "Well, you—"

Liz didn't let her finish. "Why can't you face the facts? Micky likes _me_ and not _you_!"

There was silence. Dead silence. I never thought Liz would say that... Had she really figured that out by herself? I glanced over at Melanie, who had a small smirk playing along her lips. _Nope,_ I thought, _Melanie knew it all along. She must've told Liz._

"Well, y-you're wrong! Micky likes me! I know it!" Hailey argued. I noticed something on my left and said, "Oh yeah? Let's ask him right now."

Hailey's eyes went wide as I walked over to Micky.

"Hey, what's the fuss?" he asked me. I whispered something to him and he turned red.

"So will you?" I asked. He thought for a moment, then nodded.

Liz looked from me to Micky and back. She was a little confused at why I was grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

"So, uh, Micky..." Hailey started, but Micky walked right by her and over to Liz. He put his hands on Liz' shoulders and then bent down.

He kissed her.

I looked at Hailey and started laughing. I couldn't help it. The look on her face was priceless! It was obvious she hated the fact that she was proven wrong and that Micky didn't like her.

I looked at Melanie, who was smiling, along with Mike and Davy. The rest of the people, including Tina, just stood there, open-mouthed.

I smirked. _Well,_ I thought, _At least Liz got her guy._


	10. You Just May Be the One

When Micky finally stopped kissing Liz, the red-haired girl couldn't help but blush and smile stupidly. I grinned. _Hailey: 0 Liz: 2,340,000,000,000,000,000._

Hailey stormed off in the direction of her cabin, but was stopped by the announcement over the loudspeaker.

"Rise and shine, campers!" came one of the counselors' voices, "It's another day! Another tricky day, it just so happens, for those in canoeing class, since Mrs. Garland has an obstacle course set up for y'all!" Then, the song "Another Tricky Day" by The Who started playing over the speakers as campers came out of their cabins.

"What happened?" Thalia asked Hailey. I raised an eyebrow.

"Micky. Kissed. Her," Hailey answered through gritted teeth. I smirked and then walked over to Liz.

She was off in la-la land as I waved a hand in front of her face.

"Liz? Liz? Eliza? ELIZA!" I shouted. She finally snapped out of it and focused.

"What did you tell him?" she asked. I grinned.

"I just asked him if he'd kiss the girl he liked. That's all." I started walking away towards the campfire circle.

"Hey! Rina!" Liz called after me. I turned.

"What?" I asked.

"Thanks." She smiled. I shrugged, saying, "It was better if he got it off his chest now."

She laughed and then headed back to the cabin.

As I walked down to the campfire circle, I saw Peter talking to that Wayne guy who was obsessed with Eliza.

I walked over to him and Wayne frowned.

"So are you sure that this chick wouldn't mind... You know... Me?" he asked Peter, completely ignoring me.

"Sure. She's open," Peter said. I wondered who they were talking about.

"Alright, man. Thanks," Wayne said and headed down to the campfire circle.

Peter turned to me.

"What was that about?" I asked him as we started walking to the circle.

"Wayne was having some girl problems," Peter said. My eyes widened.

"Were you talking about Liz?" I asked. Peter stared at me in shock.

"Of course not! I know Micky's into her. There's another girl Wayne was looking at," Peter told me. I breathed a sigh of relief. _That's good news for Liz,_ I thought.

Suddenly I found myself blurting out, "So, is there a girl that you like?"

I was shocked at myself. Peter's eyes clouded over, but he quickly recovered, though he stopped walking.

I bit my lip out of nervousness. It was a habit of mine that I really needed to break...

"I'm sorry..." I muttered, looking down.

"Naw, it's ok. Actually, I kinda wanted to tell you this since that night at the beach," he said. I looked up.

_What if he says me? What if he says ME?_ I thought.

"Well?" I found myself asking after a few minutes of silence.

He mumbled something under his breath and looked away.

"I can't hear you!" I said, grinning.

"It's..." he trailed off.

I sighed and started walking away. I wasn't gonna get an answer out of him any time soon.

"It's you!"

I stopped and nearly tripped as what he shouted registered in my head.

_Holy. Freaking. Crows. He said it's ME._

I probably would've jumped up and down and up and down if it hadn't been for the fact that ten other people were around.

"Are you serious?" I turned around and marched back over to him. He nodded.

I found myself grinning and then, very slowly, standing up on my tippy-toes and lightly kissing him.

He stared at me.

"You... You... You like me?" he asked.

I nodded.

A smile spread across his face as he reached for my hand.

I looked down at our hands and smiled again.

_Good Lennon, I'm one lucky chick today._

_ Dear Mom,_

_ Hey, it's Rina. Camp's great. How are you and the family? Everything ok? _

_ I made a few friends here. There's this girl named Eliza who's a really good friend. Then there's this girl Melanie. She and I had some problems, but we're over them._

_ There's a guy named Mike (no, not a boyfriend) and he's cool. He's got a few friends who are in this band together. They're all my friends._

_ Then there's this guy named Peter. He's one of Mike's band-buddies. I met him on the first day of camp and we ended up being night hike buddies. Speaking of the night hike... I kinda sprained my ankle. Don't worry, it's all healed up now. I can walk fine._

_ So. About Peter. He's kinda my boyfriend... That's ok, right? He's a really great guy, mom. He's sweet, caring, considerate, and a heck of a great bass guitar player. He's just... Groovy. He's a really groovy guy, mom. I really like him._

_ Oh! Sorry to cut this short, but Peter and his friends are having a concert down on the beach. How their drummer got the drums down there, I don't know._

_ Love ya (mean it!)_

_ Rina_

As I went to go put the letter in the camp post office, Liz caught up with me, a goofy smile on her face.

"I KNEW IT!" she shrieked. I jumped and then frowned.

"You knew what?" I asked.

"Peter liked you and you liked him! How tweet!" she said, using her signature word for "sweet".

I rolled my eyes and walked into the post office, putting the letter in the blue metal mailbox and then leaving to go to the beach for the concert.

"Yeah, well, how are you and Micky?" I asked Liz. She shut up and got this weird look on her face as she almost walked into a tree.

"Thought so," I muttered as we got to the beach.

"Rina!" Peter bounded over to me and hugged me like we hadn't seen each other in months.

"Can't...Breathe... HELP!" I gasped. Peter let go and frowned.

"Sorry, Rin," he said.

I raised an eyebrow. "'Rin'?"

He nodded. "That's my nickname for you. You know that dog from that movie "Rin Tin Tin"?

I nodded. "What about it?"

"You remind me of that dog."

I rolled my eyes. "Is that good or bad?"

"Well, you gotta remember that the dog was really cute. Just like you."

I blushed and looked down, grinning.

"Peter!" Mike called. The guys were tuning up their instruments and were going to start playing for the small crown that had gathered on the beach.

"Gotta go," Peter said, kissing my forehead and then walking over to the band stand they had set up. When they did all of this, I don't know. During their free time in the afternoon, probably.

I looked around and saw a lot of different things.

Melanie and Wayne were chatting about something or other near the water. Hailey was arguing with Tina about something. Thalia was busy gossiping about the latest fashion or whatever with a group of girls.

Liz was sitting down in the sand, drawing a picture.

I walked over to her and looked at the picture.

"What's that of?" I asked. She looked up and shrugged.

"I dunno. Just a little random thing," she said, standing up and brushing the sand off of her pant legs.

"Uh, ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention please?" Mike spoke into the microphone (yes, they had a microphone.)

There was a hush over the crowd as we all turned to the guys.

"Uh, hi, we're The Monkees, and we're gonna play a few songs for you. This first one is called 'You Just May Be the One'. Our bassist here, Peter, wants to dedicate it to a special girl out there in the audience. She knows who she is," Mike said, eyes darting from person to person.

I felt my heart jump as they started playing the song.

"That's... He... I... It's..." I mumbled. Liz touched my arm and I immediately stopped rambling.

"I saw when you walked by, the love light in your eyes, I knew I must try," Mike sang, "To win you more than as a friend, I'm starting near the end, and here I go again!"

The entire time during that chorus Peter was looking at me and smiling.

My heart flip-flopped as I remembered that Mike said that Peter wanted to dedicate this song to one special girl out in the audience.

She knew who she was. Yes, that girl was lil' old Irina Gonzalez, and she was darned proud of being that girl. I knew that for a fact.

The rest of summer camp was great. Peter and I exchanged addresses and phone numbers and found that we only lived within an hour of each other.

"So I can drive to see you sometimes," Peter said as we boarded the bus that would take us to Malibu.

"And vice versa for me!" I said. He grinned as he grabbed my hand.

Somehow, though I'd thought that this summer camp would be a bomb, it wasn't. I'd met Liz (who promised to stay in contact with me through the rest of our high school years) and I met Peter and a whole bunch of other crazy people who helped shape my life. This summer was probably the best summer of my life.

I'll always remember the time I had summer camp with The Monkees.


End file.
